“First, that’s not the appropriate answer. Second, I’m a little worried about him. He’s been . . . evasive since he and Amaryllis postponed the wedding yet again this summer. First, they were getting married in the middle of July, then they moved it to the last day of August. And, now who knows because they still haven’t given Ama a new date, which is a miracle considering how my mother can usually get all the details out of you before you’ve even settled on them. Anyway, the Emperor being evasive is never a good sign with him.” I straightened in my seat as the cars way in front rounding the curve in the road finally stopped idling. Yes! Freedom! “Hey, the traffic is moving. Finally! I’ll see you tonight. It’s just going to be . . . late.”
“Be careful, kitten.”
I smiled. “I love you too.”
ΘΘΘΘΘΘ
Raina
It was amazing how appealing home looked after over a week away. The large house nestled at the end of a cul-de-sac with the woods marching around it was definitely big enough for a Tiger and a Leopard. A quiet neighborhood on the fringes of Charlottesville, it was the perfect place for Therians. Light blazed from the windows and the lamppost in the yard also lit a good area. I didn’t bother to pull into the garage since I was still driving the official SUV with Tracker decal. Instead, I parked in the driveway, grabbed my overnight bag and purse, and scrambled to get in the house. The wind was cutting straight through my shirt.
I finally got in the door and shut it. Leaning against it, I breathed a sigh of relief. The scent that was undeniably Baran tickled my nose, but the TDS wasn’t anywhere to be seen. “Baran? I’m home.”
No answer. His scent wasn’t that old so he had been in the front of the house maybe an hour ago. Knowing my Tiger, he was probably holed up in his study. Still. Fondness warmed me even as I shook my head. That man. Although I was a little bit surprised to find that he wasn’t cooking, since he had a tendency to act like I didn’t eat whenever I was gone. Of course, his pureblood Therian brain still hadn’t wrapped itself around the fact that Elf-born Therians, such as myself, do not require as much food as purebloods.
“Baran?” I called as I moved through the hall. “If you’re hiding because you broke my Tigger lamp, you’re still in trouble.”
No answer.
I debated going to find him or just going upstairs to unpack and take a shower, not necessarily in that order. Upstairs won. Of course, I hadn’t even reached the stairs when the living room was filled with the flickering blue glow of the mezarium and a Leopard’s cough echoed. Who in the world was trying to contact us now? I glanced at the clock. It was closer to eleven than ten. Maybe it was Ciara . . . No, London was only five hours ahead and even that was early for her. Hopefully, she hadn’t decided to fall back into moody teenager mode. She and Baran had finally buried the hatchet this summer after we had gotten back from our honeymoon, but I wasn’t sure if my almost sixteen-year-old little sister had completely forgiven Baran for taking me away from the family. There was another cough. Male Leopard. Of course, that didn’t completely rule out Aita if he was trying to make sure I was home.
Venturing into the living room, I was more confused than surprised when the blue light caused by the sound waves morphed into the Emperor’s face. “Constantine?”
My brother didn’t even bother to offer a proper greeting. Instead, he was shockingly solemn as he launched into a stiff pronouncement. “I’m sorry, Raina, but I’m not going to be able to join you and the Tiger for Thanksgiving.”
Relief coursed through me that this call wasn’t because he had learned of something horrible happening to our family. Now confusion could have free reign as I struggled to keep up with my brother’s sudden change to my plans. “Okay, why? I thought you and Amaryllis—”
“Amaryllis has broken off the engagement,” the Emperor bit out. His glower stood out impressively as he added, “I have been informed that I’m not Therian enough and she’s found a pureblood she likes much better.”
“Wow.” The word escaped before I inhaled sharply to keep from asking the question that popped into my brain. Had he caught her with the pureblood? The saddest thing about the whole mess was that I couldn’t even say I was truly shocked. I had wondered if they would make it to the altar the first time Amaryllis postponed the wedding because she didn’t want to wear Ama’s wedding dress since it wasn’t made for a pureblood. I blinked. “Constantine, you don’t have to skip out on Thanksgiving. Baran and I would love to have you still. Well, I will. The TDS will tolerate you.”
Constantine shook his head. “I’m already at the port. I’m grabbing a ship to Lisbon tonight, and I’ll make my way back to Greece from there.”
“What about the others?” I asked automatically. Who was going to tell Ama what had happened?
“I’m not stopping in England.”
He cut off the transmission before I could get another word out. Okay then . . . It seemed we would not be having a family dinner for Thanksgiving. At least, not one with any of my family. Maybe it was a good thing I hadn’t had any time to pick out turkeys before I was sent to Florida. Putting the idea of hunting down Amaryllis and chewing her out for hurting my brother firmly out of my head, I went upstairs. At least a warm shower would help calm me down before I decided to ignore politeness and gave that fickle hearted woman a piece of my mind.
The house phone was ringing when I got of the shower. I scrambled to get dressed, throwing on a pair of shorts and snagging one of Baran’s button downs. Baran, of course, was ignoring the phone as well as me. He had to be locked in his study. Still drying my hair with a towel, I picked up the phone and glanced at the screen. Blocked number. I answered out of curiosity. “Hello?”
A feminine voice about as warm and cuddly as an icicle spoke. “Is Baran home?”
“He’s unavailable.”
There wasn’t even a shift in tone when she responded coolly, “I see. So he is avoiding my calls. That is most disappointing.”
Who in the world was this woman? I had no idea. And, where was that Tiger? I left our bedroom as I kept my voice neutral while asking, “I’m sorry, may I ask who’s calling?”
It was probably a good thing I hadn’t quite made it to the stairs when she finally broke the icy silence. “I am Baran’s mother, and I want him to come to my den for Thanksgiving like a proper son.”
I stopped in my tracks, torn between introducing myself and asking one of the million and a half questions bouncing through my brain. “Oh.” Why hadn’t Baran ever mentioned his mother? Of course, I wouldn’t have known Genevieve existed if I hadn’t been nosy about the picture on his desk of his nephew and niece in their beast forms. All the questions stopped bouncing around my brain as one fact trumpeted loud and clear. Baran has a mother! And, she wants us to visit for the holiday! What would such a visit let me learn about Baran?
I had just started grinning when Baran’s mother asked, “Are there conflicting plans?”
I threw my free hand in the air as it all fell into place. Of course! This was why Baran was being so grumpy about having to stay here and host Constantine! He wanted to visit his own family and just didn’t want to make me choose. It all made sense now! I nearly danced in place. I knew he couldn’t just have his sister. I knew it!
“Well?”
“Oh.” Yes, Raina, you have to actually talk to have a conversation. Rolling my eyes at my own silliness, I couldn’t help grinning as I continued cheerfully, “Umm, actually we just had a change in our plans so we can come visit for Thanksgiving.”
There was a pause, and I held my breath as I waited for her to speak. “Good,” came the cool response. Tigers weren’t very easy to read over the phone, but I thought she might have been pleased . . . underneath it all. Deeeeep underneath it all. Baran’s mother didn’t wait for my response as she added, “Inform Baran that I expect an arrival two days before Thanksgiving.”
“I will tell him. I’m sure it will be . . .” The phone clicked as I finished, “Lovely. Okay then, I’m beginnin
g to see where Baran gets it.” Tigers have terrible manners when it comes to phone calls. I couldn’t let it bother me though as I ran down the stairs.
My smile returned by the time I reached the Tigger’s study. I opened the door and took a moment to survey the room. One oversized desk covered in neat stacks of paperwork. Check. And sitting in the big leather chair behind the desk, one Tiger. Check. My smile grew as the familiar scent of forest and man that was Baran greeted me. He was grumbling to himself as he went through his paperwork, head bent. His dark brown hair curled over his shirt collar, and I caught the glimpse of an angular jaw covered in dark stubble that was too thick to be called five o’clock shadow. I bounced into the room. “TDS, I just finished talking your ama.”
He didn’t look up as he muttered, “Why is your ama calling? It isn’t even four in the morning over in England.”
I hopped up on his desk and pulled his papers out of his hands. When he graced me with an annoyed look, I smiled at him. “You are not paying nearly enough attention to this conversation.”
He rolled his eyes as he leaned back in his chair. “I’m paying attention. Why are you wearing my shirt?”
“Because it was in reach, obviously.”
“Obviously,” he intoned with far too much skepticism. “What does your ama want?”
“Grandchildren,” I deadpanned. “It is all she talks about. You’d think Connor’s son would be enough, but no.”
I finally won a smirk from my Tiger. I wanted to kiss him, but that would definitely be a distraction from this conversation. Putting his papers and the house phone on the desk, I mused, “What do purebloods call their amas?”
“Mother.”
I blinked at him. “Oh. That’s rather unimaginative, isn’t it?”
Baran gave me a pointed look as he put his papers back in order, but the smirk hadn’t quite disappeared. “Raina, did you have a point?”
“Yes, your ama called, and we’re going to go visit her for Thanksgiving. Like she asked.”
Whatever amusement had been in Baran’s scent vanished as his face turned as expressive as stone. “We’re going to what?”
ΘΘΘΘΘΘ
Chapter Three
Baran
Raina’s voice cut through the silence. “Okay, you’re going to have explain things to me, TDS, because I thought you would be . . . not happy . . . but at least not the brooding mass of silence currently invading the kitchen.”
I bit back hot words as I continued cooking. She didn’t understand. I had to remember that she didn’t understand. Instead, I drew a deep breath. Despite the fact that she’d obligated me to go see my mother, having Raina in the house again was a balm to my Tiger. The tiger didn’t care much for anything aside from the fact that his mate was back where she belonged. The smell of cooking meat and Raina’s unique scent filled my nose. I focused on her scent. Unfiltered by her perfume and touched only with the lingering hints of her shampoo and her confusion, it did much to help me calm down. For the most part. There was a tinge of a growl adding gruffness to my voice as I said, “You should not have committed to us going without consulting me.”
“You know, if you had actually responded the first couple times I called you when I got home, maybe I wouldn’t have.”
I looked over my shoulder at her and raised an eyebrow. Raina grimaced. “Fine, I still would have agreed. I have difficulty saying no to family gatherings, you know that.”
“Then you should’ve considered your previous commitment.”
Raina looked at me in utter bewilderment before her expression cleared. “Oh, right, you missed that too. Constantine won’t mind us going to visit your family for Thanksgiving. He’s on a boat to Lisbon.”
Of course, he was. I turned back to the skillet and jabbed at the meat with a little more force than necessary. I heard Raina hop off the counter and then she wrapped her arms around me, resting her cheek against my back. “It’s not going to be that bad, you know. I mean we’re only going to be what? Four or five hours away from home?”
“No,” I retorted as I finished cooking the taco meat. Raina had insisted she didn’t need much so I only made enough for a dozen. I stepped out of her hold and caught her gaze as I added gruffly, “We will be going to Maine. And given the weather, it will take us longer than the minimum of seventeen hours to reach there.”
Green tinged hazel flickered to gold for a brief moment as Raina failed to hide her surprise. “Oh.”
For the brief span of half a breath I could almost hope that she would give up the ridiculous notion of going to Maine. She leaned against the counter, her long copper colored hair swinging forward to conceal her face as she bowed her head, but then she looked up and smiled at me as she stated cheerfully, “Well, that will still give us time to be there two days before Thanksgiving. If we leave tomorrow.”
I didn’t say a word as I finished preparing the tacos. Why was she so fixated on meeting my mother? Surely the phone call had been enough to inform her that my mother was hardly the warm type. She had admitted as much when she commented on my mother’s sociability over the phone being somewhat lacking. Of course, she had been comparing the two of us so perhaps she had dismissed the entire thing as a quirk unique to Tigers. If only it were that simple. I waited until she started eating and wasn’t as likely to continue devising disastrous plans before I picked up my plate. “I need to finish my work.” I walked by her, then stopped. Turning back, I set my plate on the counter before wrapping an arm around her and pressing a kiss to her cheek. Her hair tickled my nose as I breathed in her ear, “I’m glad you’re home.”
She reached up to touch my shoulder and if she had asked me to stay, I would have done so in a heartbeat. Instead, she offered a little smile that just curved her lips. “You still don’t want to go, do you?”
“No.” And if I could find anything at all that demanded I stay near Haven, then that would be the end of those plans.
ΘΘΘΘΘΘ
Raina
The look of impassive disgruntlement that greeted me when I came back downstairs after finishing unpacking certainly confirmed my theory that the Tiger’s quest to avoid a family Thanksgiving had failed miserably. Of course, it also could have been due to the fact that he had the television tuned to the Therian News Network. They were showing a feature on the bill Senator Cunningham was trying to introduce. A voiceover against pictures of Cunningham filled the living room. “The registration bill has gained considerable support among human politicians in wake of the attack on Senator Cunningham by a human woman believed to be Elf-struck at a speech he was giving just before Memorial Day weekend. The bill demands the registration of all descendants of Elves and many among Therian intelligence believe this could be the first step toward a purge. If the bill goes through, it will expose those Therians who are living among humans including those who are positioned among the highest political circles in the Human government.”
Everly Carrol was probably scrambling to build a contingency plan should the bill actually pass. Of course, since she was serving as the Vice President, the Vulpine no doubt had access to any list that Senator Cunningham had put together (he struck me as the type who made lists) and knew who would be the first to be ‘requested’ to register. As much as I hated to admit it, the experts were right. It wouldn’t take much for this registration bill to turn into a purge. Leaning over the back of the couch, I snagged the remote and muted the program. That done, I wrapped my arms around Baran’s neck and kissed his cheek. “So I take it you weren’t able to find anything pressing to keep you here.”
“You should not sound so pleased with the matter,” he grumbled.
I scrambled over the back of the couch and settled on Baran’s lap, forcing the stubborn Tiger to focus on me. He raised an eyebrow and I grinned. Then, I finally got the opportunity to do what I had been wanting to do since I got home. Feathering my fingers through his hair, I mused, “You do realize it wouldn’t kill you to be a little happy that we’re sp
ending the holidays together, yes?”
He raised an eyebrow in response. I could feel the tension leaving his body as I continued feathering my fingers through his hair and lightly massaging his scalp. And, yet, he still managed to sound grumpy as he replied, “With you, yes. Going to Maine, however, is different.”
“Why?”
Baran’s gaze shifted to the TV and he muttered, “I should be on the taskforce addressing the Cunningham problem.”
“There isn’t a taskforce,” I reminded him. He was also avoiding the subject. What had gotten into him tonight? I dropped my hands to rest on his shoulders as I added, “And unless you’ve developed a sudden affinity for creating contingency plans, there is nothing anyone can do but wait.”
“I don’t like it.”
“I know.” I tugged on his shirt lapels, gaining his full attention once more, and then gave him my best disapproving look. “Personally, I’m far more . . . concerned by the fact that you haven’t actually acted like you’re very happy to see me.”
“I fed you.”
“And the tacos were quite nice,” I acknowledged. He had even made an effort to curtail his habit of overfeeding me. But it was still . . . “I need more.”
“More?” he intoned, raising an eyebrow again, but this time there was a glint of something in his golden eyes that sent a warm thrill running through me. He turned off the TV and wrapped his arms around me. He ran his fingers through my hair, tugging slightly, before he leaned in and breathed, “Tell me, kitten, does this satisfy?”
He gave me a kiss that was enough to make any girl melt. When he pulled back, his eyes were gleaming as he asked, “Well?”
I needed a moment to catch my breath, but then I smiled at him. “Well, it’s on the right track.” Taking advantage of his affront, I jumped off his lap with a laugh and sprinted out of the living room. The TDS was on my heels as he chased me upstairs. It was good to be home.
Tiger's Strength Page 4